Daily Devotions

We find the words of Mary in Luke 1:46-47 very interesting: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”
One of the most wonderful titles of the Lord Jesus Christ is that of Savior. This word in the Greek is “soter.” from which is derived our theological term “soteriology,” which is the study of salvation. This word (Savior) occurs 24 times in the New Testament and is applied only to Christ. Acts 4:12 tells us, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
It occurs first of all on the lips of the virgin Mary here in Luke 1, when she realizes that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior. It is significant that this first use of “soter” recognizes that our Savior can be none other than God Himself – “God my Savior” – and also that this fact should cause our spirits to rejoice, as Mary’s did. Jesus becomes our personal Savior when we believe on Him, as Mary did. 
He is also “the Savior of the world.” John 4:42 says, “And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” And in 1 John 4:14 we read, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” He is also the “Savior of all men” in the sense that His work on the cross is sufficient to save all who will believe and receive Him.
There are eight other verses in the New Testament in which “Savior” is taken as synonymous with “God.” The final occurrence of “Savior” is one of these, and it is in one of the greatest doxologies of the Bible. It is found in the Book of Jude, verse 25, “To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
There are many today who only see the man Jesus as a great teacher and example, but who reject His deity. There are many others who believe in a cosmic deity of some kind, but are unwilling to believe that He could become uniquely incarnate in a perfect man. How urgent it is that we believe and teach that our Creator must also become our personal Savior if we are ever to be saved and go to heaven one day (John 14:6). We MUST “trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). 
Then we can rejoice with Mary in “God my Savior.”
As we walk through the last week of Jesus’ life here on this earth before He goes to the cross to sacrifice His life for us, may we acknowledge our sinfulness and cry out to the Lord Jesus for salvation. He paid our sin debt that we might live. Won’t you trust Him today?